PJP Over/Under Recap – Illinois

It was a game that Indiana needed to win and they pulled through. The Hoosiers never trailed although there were some nervous moments late until IU pulled away at the end. In the process, Simmie Cobbs scored his 7th receiving TD of the season. For reference, the 2014 IU team had just 7 receiving TDs as a team. The last season IU had a player total at least 7 receiving TDs was the dynamic 2013 team. That year Shane Wynn had 11, Cody Latimer had 9, and Kofi Hughes had 7. Cobbs is 4th in the Big Ten in receiving yards.

A season-high seven consecutive successful plays for the Hoosiers! Their 41% success rate ties a Power-Five game best, also set against Virginia and Maryland. The Hoosiers had a 46% success rate rushing and a 38% passing. The rushing rate was a season-best as well. Below is the streak, over two consecutive drives, where the Hoosiers had 7 consecutive successful plays. Both drives ended in a touchdown. Funny how that works.

Timian and Cobbs led Indiana in receiving yards, but Taysir Mack reappeared as a receiving weapon. He caught 6 of 8 passes for 44 yards with all 6 of his catches resulting in a successful play. While he didn’t catch a deep pass, his production did help IU move the chains. After 25 targets over the past 3 games, Whop Philyor had just 2, catching both. Regardless, even if Cobbs leaves for the NFL, the Hoosiers should remain in good shape at receiver with Westbrook, Timian, Philyor, Mack, and Hale.

3. Indiana turnover margin – Over/Under 1.5 – Over 2

This one could have been a lot larger after Rashard Fant dropped 2 interceptions. With an early Lagow interception, this one was looking strong for the unders. Despite Indiana possessing a strong statistical advantage, Illinois was still in this one in part due to IU’s inability to force a takeaway. However, Illinois final 3 drives ended with a Jacob Robinson forced fumble that Tegray Scales recovered, a Fant interception, and a Scales interception, his 2nd consecutive game with an INT. Indiana is still -8 in turnover margin on the season, 116th nationally.

This one ended in the early part of the second quarter. After an IU sack, Illinois was forced to punt from their own 11. A terrible 34 yard punt gave IU the ball at the Illinois 45. Indiana’s subsequent drive ended in their first touchdown. Later another punt from the Illinois 11 gave IU the ball at the Illinois 49. In the 4th quarter, an Illinois punt from their 5 plus a 13 yard punt return from Rashard Fant gave the Hoosiers the ball at the Illinois 41. This drive resulted in the touchdown that put IU up 10. Finally, the Tegray Scales interception gave IU the ball at the Illinois 9 although at this point the game was over.

After Lovie Smith indicated that it would be Thomas that would receive the QB snaps going forward, news broke Friday afternoon that Thomas would be out due to injury. In his place, Jeff George completed 13 of 26 passes for 261 yards, 2 interceptions, and 8 sacks. While most picked the under, I went ahead and gave everyone a point for this one in case they had selected prior to the news breaking. We’re all IU fans; we’ve suffered enough.